Part 7 - Between Visits

I woke up slowly, my arms pushing towards the empty side of the bed. As I rolled to the other pillow, a slightly musky scent invaded my senses and I smiled lazily. My arm automatically sought the source.

There was nothing.

My stomach fell away from me and I felt a jagged pain in my heart as I remembered where she was.

"Al," I whispered into her pillow. The pain in my chest became too much. I wrapped my arms around my torso and buried my face in the soft linen.

Tears flowed freely until they burned like fire. The only sound that escaped me was the whispering of her name, over and over, until my mouth tasted like ashes.
Long minutes later, my breath was coming as sobs into the saturated pillow case. I untangled myself from our white sheet and tried to calm my breathing. I sat up, leaned against the headboard and clutched the bedding in my lap.

"She's not dead, stop acting like she is." I mumbled to myself.

I looked at the family portrait on Al's bedside table and sighed. "But she's not here either," I allowed. "I just need to calm down, I have to be strong."

I buried my face in my hands and sat for a few moments, concentrating on my breathing and nothing else. My eyes hurt, my nose was running, my throat was sore and my heart felt like it was in a vice, but I felt calm enough to think.

I suddenly realised where I was, "How did I get here?"

"I brought you," came from the doorway.

"Kyle," I croaked. There he was, my best friend of 16yrs, holding a box of tissues and a single chocolate. He came to my side and sat gently on the bed. I crawled into his lap with my sheet and Al's pillow, and snuggled into his shoulder. As soon as his arms closed on me, I lost my control again.

"Why?" I whispered between sobs.

"You can't focus on that right now, babe." He gently stroked my hair with his left hand and traced patterns on my lower back with his right. "You're just a bit shocked, so you get this out and you'll feel much better, okay?"

His voice broke a little at the end and I realised how much this was hurting him. Not just that I was in pain, or that Al was injured, but that he couldn't physically do anything to help either of us.

I pulled away to sit up and saw the tear tracks on his face. Before I could say anything he faced me towards my ensuite. "Have a shower, little one. I've put a towel and some comfy clothes in there for you," was whispered.

Without warning, he stood and I had no choice but to stand with him. "Thank you, I'll be right back."

"I'll get breakfast going."

I smiled and turned to my bathroom. Once inside, I practically fell into the shower. The warm water felt wonderful on my tired body. I had only managed to get out of bed and I was already emotionally drained, so I was thankful that Kyle was there.

The wonderful aroma of bacon, sausages and eggs lured me out of the bathroom. In the bedroom, the smell was stronger and I began to drool a little. I noticed that Kyle had made the bed and left the chocolate on my pillow. I found myself smiling at his actions.

I tossed my dirty clothes in a pile by the door before throwing the chocolate in my mouth.

"I enjoy room service," I said around my mouthful as I entered the kitchen.

"As I recall, room service usually gets a tip," he teased.

"You're getting breakfast," I fired back.

"I'm making it." He tried to sound insulted but the smile on his face was too broad for that to be believed.

"Then you're getting an edible breakfast. I'll make the tea." We had always had tea in the morning. The thought of coffee at this time was abhorrent.

"Touché, little one."

As I filled the kettle I asked about how we'd got home.

"You know, it amazes me that I can get you drunk and you remember every detail. But when you're tired, you're absolutely hopeless." He smiled at me and I remembered all the times he was referring to.

"Seriously, what happened?" I poured milk into the two cups I'd set up with a teabag and sugars, and waited for the water to boil.

"You were wiped so I brought you home. That's all." He turned back to the bacon he was cooking. "Oh, you got undressed in front of me." He threw a smile over his shoulder and I shook my head at him.

"Again?" I poured the boiling water into our cups. "You need to stop walking me to my room when I'm tired. It only ends in you trying to tear your eyes out."

"You were all over the place. You needed the help." He turned with a frying pan and I was forced to move out of the way as he served our breakfast. I sat at the breakfast area and waited for him to join me with our cups of tea.

"You're the best friend I could have asked for. You know that?" I wrapped my arm over his shoulders and he slipped an arm around my waist. We sat that way for a while, thinking, still chewing on our bacon.

"Today's going to be a big day," he informed me.

"They're coming, aren't they?" I thought it might happen. He nodded and I sighed a little. "Thanks for breakfast, I'll be needing all my strength today."

He got up to clear away the table, while I contemplated how to cope with all of the family at once.

Continued...